Godfrey resident and author Phyllis Hand Bechtold created the “Seymour Bluffs” character based on a 5-foot-tall stuffed “Seymour” that previously was a photo opportunity for visitors at a former wine shop she owned in Grafton. Now, he goes to book signings with the author of the Seymour Bluffs children’s book series, pictured here at a January book signing during Eagle Days at Pere Marquette Lodge, Grafton. less

Godfrey resident and author Phyllis Hand Bechtold created the “Seymour Bluffs” character based on a 5-foot-tall stuffed “Seymour” that previously was a photo opportunity for visitors at a former wine ... more

Photo: Photo Courtesy Of Phyllis Hand Bechtold | For The Telegraph

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“Seymour and Friends,” a bird guide for youngsters, is the latest and fourth installment of Phyllis Hand Bechtold’s Seymour Bluffs children’s book series. Design by Royce | For The Telegraph

“Seymour and Friends,” a bird guide for youngsters, is the latest and fourth installment of Phyllis Hand Bechtold’s Seymour Bluffs children’s book series. Design by Royce | For The Telegraph

Photo: Design By Royce | For The Telegraph

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“Seymour and Friends” is a simple-to-read guide with full color illustrations of each bird, along with a diary page for children to fill out with information about where and when they saw the bird, and an illustration for them to color. Pictured is a guide page with a full-color illustration of a blue bird. less

“Seymour and Friends” is a simple-to-read guide with full color illustrations of each bird, along with a diary page for children to fill out with information about where and when they saw the bird, and an ... more

Photo: Design By Royce | For The Telegraph

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‘Seymour Bluffs’ flies again, this time with fine feathered friends

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ALTON — “Seymour Bluffs” author is at it again with a new edition of the American bald eagle’s adventures in her latest installment of her children’s book series.

In early May, Godfrey resident Phyllis Hand Bechtold released the fourth Seymour Bluffs book, “Seymour and Friends,” which is a birding guide for young children. Upcoming book signings include from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, June 10, at Mississippi Mud Pottery, 310 E. Broadway, Alton, and from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Elsah General Store, 22 LaSalle St., Elsah.

“It’s a simple-to-read guide with full color illustrations of each bird, along with a diary page for your child to fill out with information about where and when they saw the bird, and an illustration for them to color,” Bechtold explained.

She previously wrote “Seymour Bluffs and the Legend of the Piasa Bird” in 2007, followed in 2008 by “Seymour Bluffs and Robert Wadlow, the Tallest Man in the World: A Story about Diversity and Tolerance” and “Seymour Bluffs, the Towboat Hero” in late 2013.

“Writing is a hobby,” said Bechtold, who is a Realtor with Tarrant and Harman.

In the books, Seymour Bluffs lives on the Mississippi River bluffs, from where he sees and learns a lot of things, which he shares with the reader, or listener, as the case may be. She created the character based on a 5-foot-tall stuffed “Seymour” that was a photo opportunity for visitors at a former wine shop she owned in Grafton.

In the first book, Seymour told the legend of the Piasa Bird; the Wadlow-themed book teaches kids to be tolerant of those who are different than them, in a fictitious story about “Robert,” who wants to be like other boys, with the central theme that it’s OK to be different. Seymour describes life on the river while exploring different jobs on a towboat in the third book.

Bechtold launched “Seymour and Friends” bird guide appropriately at the Audubon Center at Riverlands earlier this month. She followed up with a second signing event in Montana.

With eight grandchildren, Bechtold has plenty of youngsters with whom to bounce around ideas.